I started playing bridge at the age of 6. My parents and 16-year-old brother needed a fourth and I was it! My mother was a Life Master in Pittsburgh. I played bridge throughout college and medical school, but never competitively. I stopped playing completely from age 25-70 while we were raising a family and while I was involved in my cardiology practice in Lawrenceville NJ. We moved to a 55+ community in Langhorne and I started playing in the clubhouse one afternoon a week. That’s where I met Mark Hedson, who was already a Life Master. Although he is 10 years younger than me, he “adopted” me and asked if I was interested in playing at bridge clubs and learning bidding conventions and defensive strategies. I agreed. We started playing at Dotties in Warminster and routinely finished in the bottom third. But I persevered and gradually we became a very competitive team. When Barbara Patterson started AMI Bridge Club in Langhorne, she served an area that had been long ignored in the northern Philadelphia suburbs. This allowed us to play twice a week without having to travel a distance. In addition, we would play one or two days in the yearly regional at Valley Forge. My high point was at the 2018 regional when Art Frank and his partner from Ohio, Ron Woofter, asked Mark and I to partner in the 2 day KO. Here I was, with 300 or so points, playing with partners with well over a thousand and opponents with even more. We came in 2nd for 9+ gold points! Bridge has been a wonderful outlet for me in my retirement years.

You know, sometimes we meet people at different stages of our lives that have a profound influence. Mark Hedson was one of those. He was never embarrassed when we would get 43%. He introduced me to 2/1, NMF, Cappelletti, Drury, Smolen, Michaels, RKC, Inverted Minors, unusual NT, etc. Each step along the way, he was concerned that my age would keep me from keeping everything straight in my mind. Boy, did I surprise him! I would never have gotten into duplicate bridge if it had not been for him. He has been my mentor and support. I also remember when Barbara started her game. She would get 4 1/2 or 5 tables. She has been such a positive influence in the Yardley-Langhorne area.

I have been blessed with a Mentor. He has taught me the conventions and has tested me constantly. I have read books on bidding and the play of the hand. I love the game so it wasn’t a hardship. I was a work in progress for a long time. Some of the best advice I was given: “Play up” and my favorite: “It’s history let it go”.

I have found the one thing that was hard to achieve is confidence. To go into the game and say to yourself – I know the conventions, relax and think. Listen to your partner, it’s a conversation and don’t try to play his hand. Obviously, these are some of my faults. Duplicate Bridge is a wonderful challenge.

The Harrisburg Bridge Club (HBC) is doing an extraordinarily fine job of developing and training newer bridge players.  Other games are run by directors. Our games are run by a club. If I named “everybody” who has contributed to HBC, I would leave out a few people, because I cannot name everybody who contributed.

The mentor games at HBC have been a pure joy and they are needed, at every club. The 0-100 and then 0-50 game that has run for years, on Monday night, by Pam Murray and Linda Ivanoff, is worth driving 100 miles to play in.  There were many good players in that game when I played there.  Soon, you will see them achieving Life Master milestones. Other HBC members were interested in developing novice and inexperienced players, who came to the club after I did.  Many of these players are better players than I am now, and are now very close to Life Master.

My deepest thanks to our current club President Midge Sobolewski, who was my mentor in the junior games; and (Ms.) Jan Leuenberger who worked with me when I barely knew vulnerable, from not vulnerable. Arguably, I still play like I don’t know the difference.

Thanks to Jim Boyer (previous club President) and teacher Rickey Boyer; office holders Jack and Cecile Hund, club manager Bob Priest;  bridge instructor Mike Mendelson,  who has tirelessly run classes for several years; Russ Poppleton, long time building manager; and my long time HBC partner Pat Kaufold…….oh, and the legal eagles in the club, who keep us on the straight and narrow path.

All of them, and other members, contributed to making HBC the club that is fun to play at; and develops pretty good players.